Lasith Malinga's advise to aspiring bowlers after his last ODI match against Bangladesh
Sri Lanka bowling legend Lasith Malinga, who announced his retirement from ODI cricket on Friday, enlightened young cricketers saying that to survive in the sport, they will have to be a match winner.
"My captains expect me to take wickets. I tried my best all through my career. I hope all the young bowlers do this as well. Because just surviving in cricket, I don't think anyone can go far. You have to be a match-winner. That's what I'm looking forward to in the future. These young bowlers have to get match-winning performances and people have to tell that's a match-winning bowler. We have a couple of guys, they have the ability, we have to look after them," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Malinga as saying.
The pacer took part in his last 50 overs cricket against Bangladesh on Friday and concluded his ODI career in style as he claimed a wicket on the final delivery he bowled and led Sri Lanka to a 91 run victory. Malinga took three wickets in the game giving away just 38 runs from his spell.
"I think whether I'm retiring or not, winning is very important. We are a young team and we are looking forward to win. These days we haven't had the momentum to get wins," the pacer said.
Notwithstanding that, Sir Lanka still has two more ODIs to play with Bangladesh in the series, but Malinga feels it’s time for him to call it a day.
"I've played the last 15 years for Sri Lanka. Really an honour to play and really happy to play for these people and for all the crowd that's been behind me. I feel this is the time I have to move on because we have to build for the 2023 World Cup and that's why I realised, okay, my time is up, I have to go," he said.
Sri Lanka will play their next ODI with Bangladesh on July 28.
